The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum was founded in conformity with Calouste Gulbenkian's last will and testament, the museum accommodates the art collection of the similarly-named Foundation, that includes ancient and, some, modern art. The buildings are part of their own isolated campus in Palhavã in central Lisbon. The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Museum was recognized as a National Monument in Portugal in 2010. The buildings are seen as a significant representation of modern Portuguese architecture of 1960's.

In 1959 a competition was launched for the construction of the foundation and museum buildings in the city park. It was won by the team of Alberto J. Pessoa, Pedro Cid and Ruy Jervis d'Athouguia in collaboration with landscape architects António Viana Barreto and Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles. The proposal involved austere modern buildings, which would contain the impressive art collection Calouste Gulbenkian. These concrete structures in buildings are separate but interconnected pathways through relaxing campus. The vegetation is proposed on the entire campus. The design of the museum and headquarters is relatively simple, and includes two wings in a "T"-shaped format, with different entranceways, but accessible through the temporary exhibits, shrewdly situated in the museum and library connection. The massive volume, long and horizontal was used for administration, services and as auditoriums, off of the main, single entry space. It is in this entranceway that the panel Começar, by Almada Negreiros is situated.